The coming millennium

THE word millennium is not in the bible, yet it’s so common in Christian circles one might think it is. It comes from two Latin words – mille, meaning “a thousand” and annus, meaning “year.”

So millennium simply means “a thousand years.” In the minds of many, this period has come to mean a time of peace, prosperity, and plenty on this earth. The word itself, however, carries no such connotation.

“… and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:4). Could it be this fact that has led many to look upon it as a thousand years of peace and preaching the gospel? Is the world really going to get better and the church continue to grow in strength until finally all men surrender to Christ’s Kingdom?

“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:1,2).

Thus, the one thousand years starts at the binding and ends at the loosing of Satan. “… and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.” (Revelation 20:3).

Where will the righteous be during the millennium? “And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:4).

The Bible talks about two resurrections, “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. (John 5:28,29). The resurrection of the good is put first, the resurrection of damnation, second.

The exact time of the first resurrection starts as stated in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”

Every child of God, from the first generation to the last, sleeping the sleep of death, will be awakened by the voice of Christ, and all true believers who are alive on earth at Christ’s second coming will be changed “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:52).

This leaves not one child of God upon this earth during the millennium. They are all taken; they are all with Christ, “… and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:4).

Where will Christ be? “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:2,3).

He takes His people to be with Him in Heaven. In a vision, John saw them: “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands.” (Revelation 7:9).

What will be the effect of the second coming of Christ upon the wicked and upon the earth itself? “And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming.” (2 Thessalonians 2:8).

When Christ appeared to Saul on Damascus road, and knocked him off his high horse in a fair fight, one glimpse of His glory blinded him. We read that when ONE angel of the Lord descended on Christ’s tomb, “his countenance was like lightning … and for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became like dead men.” (Matthew 28:3,4).

But when He returns, ALL the holy angels will be with Him, and they are numbered in the “ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.” (Revelation 5:11). Imagine the commotion!!

“And at that day the slain of the LORD shall be from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall become refuse on the ground.” (Jeremiah 25:33). No one will bury them as even the wicked undertakers will be dead.

Satan is only active if he is tempting or deceiving somebody. How many of the righteous will be left on the earth for Satan to tempt during the millennium? None. They have all gone to Glory with Christ. How many of the wicked will be alive here for Satan to lead astray? None. They have been smitten down at the presence of Christ. The circumstances that surround him have completely tied his hands.

Often we here people say, “My hands are tied; I can do nothing.” And yet there are no cords, no chains on them. We know what they mean. So it is with Satan. Revelation 20:2,3: “.. that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled.”

Jeremiah 4:23,25: “I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld, and, lo there was no man.” Since Satan wants to be like the Most High, let him create something now! He can’t even make a spark!!

Meantime, the saints are in heaven, in judgement with Christ. There will be three surprises when we get to heaven; first, that you are there; secondly, that some folks you thought should be there are not there (they were so good at pretending and covering up they fooled you and whole churches) and thirdly, that some folks you thought should not be there are in fact there (they were able to straighten out and sort things out with their Saviour).

And Jesus opens His detailed record for the saints to see for themselves (judge). They also get the opportunity to judge even the fallen angels. Wow! The righteous will judge angels! They understand that it is not God’s fault that anyone was lost. Some folks were just saying Lord, Lord but their hearts were far from Him. Then the saints will say with the angels, “You are righteous, O Lord, The One who is and who was and who is to be, Because You have judged these things.” (Revelation 16:5).

Revelation 20:7: “When the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed.” What now, are the wicked to have a resurrection? Yes indeed! “The rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.”

That means they will live again. After the judgement in Heavenly places where the saints have been reigning with Christ in judgement for one thousand years, the city of God descends to this earth, and the wicked are raised. (Revelation 21:2). This is the second resurrection, to damnation.

And what do they do? At Satan’s instigation they make a final attempt to overthrow the kingdom of God: “They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.” (Revelation 20:9).  This is hell-fire, preparing the world for its re-creation.

The millennium is not yet. But some day it will begin; when Jesus is done listening to people making excuses why they cannot do right and solemnly declares: “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” (Revelation 22:11).

I pray that you and I be in the first resurrection, for in the second, we would be a thousand years too late.